Conducted by travel website TravelSupermarket, the study found that Italy was the most-searched holiday destination in 97 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Russia, China, and most countries in the EU.
The survey used Google’s Keyword Planner, searching all languages, to determine the average monthly search volume in each country for the term “Holidays in X” for over 870 destinations.
The most searched-for place in each country was then identified and recorded as the top destination.
All data was pulled during November and December 2018, with Italy receiving a total of 226,860 monthly hits.
Italy was closely followed by Spain, while Australia, Greece and France rounded out the top five.
The most popular holiday destination among Italians was Spain, while Australians preferred the Maldives.
Holidaymakers in countries such as New Zealand, the US, Canada, Brazil, China and Russia all chose Italy as their top destination.
The data seems to accurately reflect tourism in Italy at this time: the latest figures indicate more than 420 million visitors annually, a number which grows steadily each year.
This European summer is set to be busier than ever for many of Italy’s tourist hotspots, including Cinque Terre and Pompeii.
This year, 750,000 cruise ship passengers are expected to visit the area of Cinque Terre, compared to 450,000 last year.
Meanwhile, Pompeii attracts more than 3.5 million visitors a year, and recent archaeological findings at the site are expected to increase visitor numbers in 2019.
